Kojima Productions Threatens To Sue Over 'Racist' Picture
Kojima Productions is threatening legal action after an image of Hideo Kojima was connected to the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe.
11th Jul 2022 09:30
Hideo Kojima Instagram | Kojima Productions
Kojima Productions Threatens To Sue Over 'Racist' Picture
Kojima Productions is threatening legal action after an image of Hideo Kojima was connected to the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe.
11th Jul 2022 09:30
Hideo Kojima Instagram | Kojima Productions
There are some uncomfortable conversations being had over at Kojima Productions HQ, as an unfortunate internet trend has connected Hideo Kojima to the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe.
On July 8, Shinzo Abe was brutally assassinated while attending a political event. The former Prime Minister was killed by Tetsuya Yamagami, and when his image started doing the rounds online, some joked that he looks like the gaming auteur. Yes, because some corners of the internet really do think all Japanese people look the same.
Why Is Kojima Threatening Legal Action?
The trend was picked up by far-right French politician Damien Rieu, and while we're not sure whether he understood the joke or not, he shared the image to his followers. Rieu retweeted images of Kojima and captioned them with a translation that reads, "The extreme left kills."
Although Rieu deleted his tweets, the news had already spread. A news station in Greece even picked up on it and incorrectly identified Kojima as Abe's killer. A viewer contacted Kotaku and translated what was said as images of Kojima were shared: "Tetsuya has confessed to his actions to the police, admitting that he wanted Abe dead because he was disappointed and upset with him. The police have learned that he [the culprit] had served in the Navy Special Forces and taught a unit in Medical School on Physiotherapy for dementia patients. He was passionate about Che Guevara."
Bizarrely, Tetsuya is being tied to Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara due to a single photograph of Kojima standing next to a picture of him. Kojima Productions has spoken out on the whole situation and stated that it will "consider taking legal action in some cases." Rieu isn't directly named, but with the replies filling with screenshots of his tweets, the situation is only likely to get worse.
What's Next For The Kojima Case?
Even though it's true that Rieu has deleted the offending tweets, it's clear that the internet (and Kojima Productions) aren't forgetting this one anytime soon. It might've been a mistake on Rieu's part, but given his ties to the far-right, it's only thrown fuel on the fire.
Rieu has since taken to Twitter to apologise and wrote: "I naively took a joke for information. I didn't think someone would make a joke about someone being murdered, but it was my fault for not fact-checking before sharing. My apologies to #HideoKojima and to #MetalGear." Kojima isn't taking this one lying down, and while Rieu is adamant he didn't know he was in the wrong, this is an example of a bad situation snowballing. Your move, Kojima.
About The Author
Tom Chapman
Tom is Trending News Editor at GGRecon, with an NCTJ qualification in Broadcast Journalism and over seven years of experience writing about film, gaming, and television. With bylines at IGN, Digital Spy, Den of Geek, and more, Tom’s love of horror means he's well-versed in all things Resident Evil, with aspirations to be the next Chris Redfield.
